Tag Archives: GPU Pass-through

Top 10 Suggested Unified Experience Tips for Citrix Users 2016

The views expressed here are my own and do not necessarily reflect the views of Citrix.

Shortened Names
XENDESKTOP – xd
VIRTUAL DELIVERY AGENT – vda
HIGH DEFINITION EXPERIENCE – hdx
EXPERIENCE 1st – x1
XENAPP – xa
VIRTUAL DESKTOP – vd
THINWIRE COMPATIBLE MODE – tcm also known as ecm or thinwire+
SELF-SERVICE PASSWORD RESET – sspr
VIRTUAL GPU – vgpu
PROOF OF CONCEPT – poc

Suggested Top 10 for 2016
This is numbered 1 through 10 but in reality is in no particular order!

1. E-mail discovery for Citrix Receiver using DNS SRV records – http://docs.citrix.com/en-us/receiver/windows/4-3/receiver-windows-install-wrapper/receiver-windows-cfg-command-line-42.html internally and externally on the Gateway – http://docs.citrix.com/en-us/netscaler-gateway/10-1/ng-xa-xd-integration-edocs-landing/ng-clg-integration-wrapper-con/ng-clg-session-policies-overview-con/ng-clg-storefront-policies-con/ng-clg-storefront-email-discovery-tsk.html.
2. Implement SplitDNS or more technically correct “split-horizon DNS” – https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Split-horizon_DNS my favourite personally over email based discovery :-)!
3. Brand your NetScalers (Unified) Gateway – http://docs.citrix.com/en-us/netscaler-gateway/11-1/vpn-user-config/custom-portal.html and App Store (StoreFront) – http://docs.citrix.com/en-us/storefront/3-7/manage-citrix-receiver-for-web-site/unified-receiver-experience.html to match and keep it clear, clean and simple!

4. Implement HDX Adaptive Display v2 available in 7.11+ – http://docs.citrix.com/en-us/xenapp-and-xendesktop/7-11/policies/reference/ica-policy-settings/graphics-policy-settings.html as your default Graphics Mode and if you can’t then Thinwire Compatible Mode – http://docs.citrix.com/en-us/xenapp-and-xendesktop/7-11/hdx/thinwire.html.

5. If using Skype for Business 2015 or 2016 implement the HDX RealTime Optimisation Pack 2.x.n http://docs.citrix.com/en-us/hdx-optimization/2-1/hdx-realtime-optimization-pack-overview.html to offload the video/audio to the local end-points (Windows, Mac and Linux) saving on backend compute and density loss for XenApp.*

6. Implement domain pass-through for internal users – http://docs.citrix.com/en-us/storefront/3-7/plan/user-authentication.html.
7. Deploy the (latest) HTML5 Receiver for remote access – http://docs.citrix.com/en-us/receiver/html5/2-2/user-experience.html.

8. When using Citrix Receiver for Windows (with HDX engine 14.4), the GPU can be used for H.264 decoding wherever it is available at the client – http://docs.citrix.com/en-us/receiver/windows/4-5/improve.html.
9. Deploy Self-Service Password Reset (SSPR) – http://docs.citrix.com/en-us/self-service-password-reset/1-0.html.

10. The most difficult to justify probably re the cost(s) but assigning a low end vGPU GRID profile or utilising the Intel Iris Pro Graphics with XenServer 7 to provide enough/suitable GPU capacity to all virtual apps & desktops (oldISH and modern) provides a much better experience so setup a PoC to see and try if for yourself and finally NVidia now supports H.264 offloading onto there GRID Cards in 7.11 🙂 – http://docs.citrix.com/en-us/xenapp-and-xendesktop/7-11/whats-new.html#par_anchortitle_59c9.

vGPU for XenApp and XenDesktop 7.6 powered by nVidia GRID K1, K2 Cards on XenServer 6.2 SP1, 6.5

“The following content is a brief and unofficial prerequisites guide to setup, configure and test vGPU technology using XenServer 6.2 SP2+ or XenServer 6.5, XenDesktop 7.6, nVidia GRID K1 or K2 cards and a supported server from either the Citrix or nVidia HCL prior to deploying in a PoC, Pilot or Production environment by the author of this entry. The views expressed here are my own and do not necessarily reflect the views of Citrix.

Shortened Names
XENAPP – xa
XENDESKTOP – xd
XENAPP/XENDESKTOP – xad
VIRTUAL DELIVERY AGENT – vda
VIRTUAL GRAPHICS PROCESSING UNIT – vgpu
GRAPHICS PROCESSING UNIT – gpu
STOREFRONT SERVICES – sfs
VIRTUAL MACHINE – vm
HIGH DEFINITION EXPERIENCE – hdx
XENSERVER – xs

What’s New
1. vGPU for XenApp is now supported ref the following blog article published entitled “Citrix supports NVIDIA GRIDâ„¢ vGPUâ„¢ for XenApp!” – http://blogs.citrix.com/2014/11/25/citrix-supports-nvidia-grid-vgpu-for-xenapp/.
2. XenServer 6.5 can now support up to 3x nVidia GRID cards scaling up to 96 VM’s with a vGPU assigned in a GRID enabled/compatible supported server hardware.
3. nVidia have certified new GRID profiles all of which are Q certified check them out at – http://www.nvidia.co.uk/object/grid-virtual-gpus-uk.html.
4. The latest GRID card datasheet is avaiable at – http://images.nvidia.com/content/grid/pdf/188270-NVIDIA-Grid-Datasheet-A4-fnl-Web.pdf.

What is vGPU?
It is a logical portion of a physical GPU assigned to a VM to deliver rich graphical applications from either a multi-user or desktop OSes. It is currently only supported with either nVidia GRID K1/K2 cards, compatible HCL server running either XenServer 6.2 SP+ or XenServer 6.5+ with XenApp or XenDesktop 7.6. The GPU resources (Frame buffer) + access time that is allocated to a vGPU assigned to the VM is managed with the help of a vGPU profile e.g K120Q which manages the GPU resources + time in conjunction with the vGPU manager which is installed within Dom0 of the XenServer 6.2 SP1+ or 6.5 host which intern allows for any VM assigned a vGPU to handle and delivery graphical intensive applications e.g AutoCAD Map 3D or Adobe Photoshop CS. For more technical information and an alternative description and overview including a diagram checkout – http://www.nvidia.com/object/virtual-gpus.html on the nVidia website.

GRID Card History
The first generation of GRID cards were called K1, K2 Cards and made use of the “Kepler” architecture, technical details can be found on the datasheet here – http://www.nvidia.co.uk/content/cloud-computing/pdf/nvidia-grid-datasheet-k1-k2.pdf.

The second generation of nVidia GRID cards are called TESLA which make use of the “Maxwell” architecture which includes 3x offerings TESLA M10 (Rack Servers), TESLA M6 (MXM Blade Servers) and TESLA M60 (Rack Servers)

Overview of Citrix HDX vs. HDX 3D Pro
HDX stands of High Definition eXperience and is built upon the ICA protocol which is developed, owned and maintained by Citrix. HDX automatically and dynamically adapts to any changes within the users ICA session end-2-end to ensure that the users experience always comes first and foremost. HDX inspects the computing resources within the data centre e.g. the VM or physical server that the desktop or server VDA is install on, the network and the end-point device to see what computing resources can be leveraged to offload onto to further enhance the users experience. For a technical overview to Citrix’s HDX technologies and policies in XAD 7.6 check out – http://support.citrix.com/proddocs/topic/xenapp-xendesktop-76/xad-hdx-landing.html. Citrix has published document entitled “What is HDX? / Citrix HDX technologies for optimizing the virtualization experience” available at – http://www.citrix.com/content/dam/citrix/en_us/documents/products-solutions/citrix-hdx-technologies.pdf which provides a great introduction into HDX technologies.

vGPU Pre-requites & System Requirements
1. Start by reviewing http://www.citrix.com/go/vgpu.
2. Hardware requirements can be found at – https://www.citrix.com/content/dam/citrix/en_us/documents/go/vgpu-tech-preview-hardware-requirements.pdf and to purchase a GRID enabled server please visit – http://www.nvidia.co.uk/object/buy-nvidia-grid-uk.html.
3. I would suggest downloading and reviewing the guide entitled “Part 1: XenServer GPU Pass-through” available at – https://www.citrix.com/content/dam/citrix/en_us/documents/go/reviewers-guide-remote-3d-graphics-apps-part-1-xenserver-gpu-passthrough.pdf prior to starting as this will cover off the installation of a GRID card into a Dell R720 Server which will be useful to review if your about to embark on deploying your first GRID K1/2 card in a compatible supported server.
4. The following guide entitled “Part 3: XenServer GPU Virtualization (vGPU)” covers off the full deployment from installing and configuring XenServer 6.2 SP1+ to preparing the VM and assigning a vGPU through to the installation and configuration of the nVidia GRID drivers, XenTools and the Desktop OS VDA. The guide is available at – *https://www.citrix.com/content/dam/citrix/en_us/documents/go/reviewers-guide-remote-3d-graphics-apps-part-3-xenserver-vgpu.pdf.
5. Encoding method suggested is H.264 although you do need more power server h/w as this protocol type does require more computing power but uses less bandwidth and you’ll also require an end point capable of decoding the H.264 stream.

Installation & Configuration
1. http://support.citrix.com/article/CTX140603 or refer to point 4 in the above “vGPU Pre-requites & System Requirements” section.
2. NVIDIA GRID Configuration Checks by Jason Southern at nVidia

HDX 3D Pro Policy or Policies
1. I would strongly recommend when you begin your testing of a vGPU VM(s) that you create a new custom policy in Studio and perhaps title it “vGPU HDX 3D Pro” and apply the following sUgGeStEd vGPU HDX 3D Pro policy as described in this nVidia GRID forum article available at – https://gridforums.nvidia.com/default/topic/254/xendesktop-with-nvidia-grid/hdx-policy-for-grid-accelerated-applications/. Why not use my current HDX policy? Firstly this policy is a sUgGeStEd and should be considered as an initial base line to begin testing from and its based off real world field experience from an EMEA nVidia GRID Architecture based in the UK.
2. The following XenDesktop master class from July 2014 will provide you with a great insight into HDX 3D Pro with nVidia GRID cards. This master class is a must if your looking at deploying an HDX 3D Pro with a customers environment to enable the deliver of HDX Rich Graphics to users within LAN and WAN scenarios.

HDX or HDX 3D Pro Thin Clients
1. If your looking for HDX or HDX 3D Pro verified thin clients then please check out the Citrix Ready website at – http://www.citrix.com/ready/en/.
2. HDX Search results – https://citrixready.citrix.com/category-results.html?category=c1-endpoints/c2-thin-clients&lang=en_us&filter=c1-endpoints/c2-thin-clients/g-hdx-levels/f-hdx-ready&sortby=product-asc and for HDX Ready Chrome Device – https://citrixready.citrix.com/category-results.html?category=c1-endpoints/c2-chrome-devices&lang=en_us&filter=c1-endpoints/c2-chrome-devices/g-hdx-levels/f-hdx-ready&sortby=product-asc.
3. HDX Premium search results – https://citrixready.citrix.com/category-results.html?category=c1-endpoints/c2-thin-clients&lang=en_us&filter=c1-endpoints/c2-thin-clients/g-hdx-levels/f-hdx-premium&sortby=product-asc
4. HDX 3D Pro search results – https://citrixready.citrix.com/category-results.html?category=c1-endpoints/c2-thin-clients&lang=en_us&filter=c1-endpoints/c2-thin-clients/g-hdx-levels/f-hdx-3d-pro&sortby=product-asc.

Customer Stories
1. Story | – https://blogs.nvidia.com/blog/2016/11/02/ngca-perspective-how-nvidia-empowers-education-through-grid/.
2. Case Study | Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering Co. Ltd – http://www.nvidia.co.uk/content/grid/resources/case-study-daewooshipbuilding.pdf.
3. Success Story | Bell Helicopter Elevating The Design and Manufacturing of World-Class Helicopters – http://www.nvidia.com/object/enterprise-virtualization-case-study-bell-helicopter.html
4. Success Story | PSA Peugeot Citroen Accelerating Automotive Design with NVIDIA GRID – http://www.nvidia.com/object/enterprise-virtualization-case-study-peugeot.html.

nVidia GRID Forums
1. Drivers – https://gridforums.nvidia.com/default/board/128/nvidia-grid-drivers/.
2. GRID cards – https://gridforums.nvidia.com/default/board/129/grid-boards/.
3. XenApp – https://gridforums.nvidia.com/default/board/127/xenapp-with-nvidia-grid/.
4. XenDesktop – https://gridforums.nvidia.com/default/board/126/xendesktop-with-nvidia-grid/.
5. Announcements – https://gridforums.nvidia.com/default/board/120/announcements/.

XenDesktop 7.1

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The following content is a brief and unofficial prerequisites guide to setup, configure and test XenDesktop 7.1 prior to deploying in a PoC, Pilot or Production environment by the author of this entry.

Shortened Names
ACTIVE DIRECTORY – ad
STOREFRONT – sf
REMOTE DESKTOP SERVICES – rds
VIRTUAL DESKTOP INFRASTRUCTURE – vdi
VIRTUAL DELIVERY CONTROLLER – vda
VIRTUAL GRAPHICS PROCESSING UNIT – vgpu
HIGH AVAILABILITY- h/a
VIRTUAL SHARED GRAPHICS ACCESS – vsga

Coming Soon!
In the interim I have selected a few links from Citrix eDocs which you may find to be useful relating to this new version of XenDesktop 7.1.

Deploy XenDesktop in a multiple forest Active Directory environment
http://support.citrix.com/proddocs/topic/xendesktop-71/cds-plan-multiple-forest.html

XenDesktop 7.1 VDA, Controller Platform Supportability
http://support.citrix.com/proddocs/topic/xendesktop-71/cds-xd71-support-platforms.html

Enable High Availability If Delivery Controller Fails
Firstly you need to adjust two registry entries within either the Windows Server or Desktop OSes to enable the VDA to be in high availability mode – http://support.citrix.com/proddocs/topic/xendesktop-71/cds-plan-high-avail-vda-rho.html thereafter you will need to create custom *.ica file – http://support.citrix.com/article/CTX127392 to connect to VDA(s) installed on a Windows Server or Desktop OS to access your resources e.g Hosted Shared Desktop.

nVidia & Citrix Announcement at Synergy 2013
If you did not watch the LiVE announcement here is the 20 minute discussion and demonstration on stage streamed LiVE across the internet of the very latest in virtual Graphics Processing Unit (vGPU) technology delivered using a nVidia GRID K2 card, XenServer 6.2 + hot-fixes on XenDesktop 7.1 < a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mwuPXT8jrv4">http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mwuPXT8jrv4.

How to setup and configure nVidia Virtual GPU (vGPU) in XenDesktop 7.1 DRAFT & MAY CONTAIN ERROR(S)
1: Check out – http://www.nvidia.co.uk/object/grid-virtual-gpus-uk.html which explains the technology and provides a table of the maximum capable screen resolution, virtual GPU profile, number of supported monitors and users per nVidia GRID K1 or K2 card.
2: It is also worth reading this newly published HDX Technology white paper – http://www.citrix.com/content/dam/citrix/en_us/documents/products-solutions/citrix-hdx-technologies.pdf if your new to delivering hosted shared desktops (XenApp 6.5, XenDesktop 7.x), VDI desktops (XenDesktop 7.x) or just a generalised refresh surrounding HDX which is built on the strength of Independent Computing Architecture (ICA) protocol – http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Independent_Computing_Architecture.
3: What server hardware is supported for nVidia GRID K1, K2 cards – http://www.nvidia.co.uk/object/buy-nvidia-grid-uk.html and here is where you can find the current specifications for the card themselves – http://www.nvidia.co.uk/object/grid-vdi-graphics-cards-uk.html.
4: Review and understand the system requirements for HDX 3D Pro which is required in order to deliver the whole solution – http://support.citrix.com/proddocs/topic/xendesktop-71/hdx-sys-reqs.html.
5: Explore, understand and review the GPU Acceleration for Windows Desktop OS’s in eDocs – http://support.citrix.com/proddocs/topic/xendesktop-71/hd-3d-plan.html and it is also worth reading through GPU Acceleration for Windows Server OS’s as well at – http://support.citrix.com/proddocs/topic/xendesktop-71/hd-3d-gpu-acceleration-win-server-os.html.
6:Assuming you have not acquired a nVidia GRID K1, K2 card you should ensure that you download the latest possible and stable driver(s) – http://www.nvidia.com/Download/index.aspx?lang=en-us and if you require assistance also make use of nVidia’s support – http://www.nvidia.co.uk/page/support.html. I would also recommend reviewing or contacting manufacture to ensure that you have the latest and or best supported BIOS to support the whole solution end to end.
7: Download print out the following Reviewers guide to getting started – http://www.citrix.com/content/dam/citrix/en_us/documents/go/reviewers-guide-remote-3d-graphics-apps-part-3-xenserver-vgpu.pdf. If your new to Citrix XenDesktop 7.1 and what to get started quickly follow on with this great Reviewers guide – http://www.citrix.com/wsdm/restServe/skb/attachments/RDY8316/XenDesktop%207.1%20Reviewer%27s%20Guide.pdf which is referenced from – http://www.citrix.com/skb/articles/RDY8316.
8: Install the K1 or K2 GPU cards into your chooses server h/w platform, download the XenServer 6.2 ISO burn it to CD and also download the required hot-fixes and service packs (SP) if required to enable vGPU. Insert the CD into the host and power and install XenServer 6.2 and install the latest version of XenCenter on your desktop and connect it to your successful installed XenServer 6.2 host. Note you should always ensure when setting a PoC or pilot that you keep in-line with your organisations best practises and polices.
9: Complete hot-fixes packing process and also install the nVidia GRID Manager into Domain0 (Dom0) as instructed in the reviewers guide.
10: Create your VM in XS and remember to add the vGPU, then power on the VM to install and configure the OS -> once the installation is completed install and enable the nVidia GRID drivers – http://support.citrix.com/proddocs/topic/xendesktop-71/hd-3d-manage.html and then reboot the VM -> install Xen tools and reboot -> login install and configure as required your intensive 3D, graphical intensive applications -> join to your organisations domain and change the host name if required and reboot -> mount the XenDesktop 7.1 ISO to the VM and install the VDA (Decisions make a master images or enable R/A) and reboot -> Open Studio for XenDesktop 7.1 on your desktop and create machine catalogue and delivery group following the best practises of the reviewers guides mentioned above -> Open Citrix Receiver which can be downloaded at – and login and search for your newly created VDI desktop with vGPU and launch the resource and access one of your installed 3D or graphical intensive applications and begin testing and playing with different policies in XenDesktop 7.1 and tweaking your h/w as required to gain the maximin possible performance.
11: You can/could also test and try using – http://www.ozone3d.net/gpushark/#techdata although I have not tested this utility with a VDI desktop which is vGPU ready and enabled.

nVidia GRID Technologies
Shared GPU for bare metal Windows Server running XenApp 6.5 for delivering RDS Workloads – http://www.nvidia.co.uk/object/grid-xenapp-uk.html
Dedicated GPU for Virtual Machines on either a VMWare ESXi or XenServer 6.2 (hotfixes) hosts – http://www.nvidia.co.uk/object/dedicated-grid-gpus-uk.html.
vGPU for Virtual Machines on a XenServer 6.2 (hotfixes) host – http://www.nvidia.co.uk/object/grid-virtual-gpus-uk.htm

Infrastructure Considerations & Planning
Often individuals ask themselves how do I use my current or planned network, h/w infrastructure requirements to ensure support XenDesktop 7.0, 7.1 for VDI, RDS workloads?

1: Always refer to eDocs, CTX articles or white papers published by Citrix for the correct system requirements and best practises.
2: Citrix’s Project Accelerator http://project.citrix.com
3: Sizing XenDesktop 7 App Edition VMs – http://blogs.citrix.com/2013/10/31/sizing-xendesktop-7-app-edition-vms/
4: Go SuperSonic with XenDesktop 7.x Bandwidth SuperCodecs – http://blogs.citrix.com/2013/11/06/go-supersonic-with-xendesktop-7-x-bandwidth-supercodecs/
5: Storage and IOPS guidance for App delivery with XenDesktop 7 – http://blogs.citrix.com/2013/11/14/storage-and-iops-guidance-for-app-delivery-with-xendesktop-7/